


Don’t Break the Branches Off the Family Tree

by emmalinerosette



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Episode: s04e03 Brothers, Gen, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 17:33:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12325611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmalinerosette/pseuds/emmalinerosette
Summary: alternate title: AU WHERE DATA GETS THE EMOTION CHIP THE FIRST TIMEI cleave as close to the canon as possible, but this is an AU exploring a "what if," so it does split off into canon noncompliance.Passing reference to Ira Graves from s02e06 The Schizoid Man.Title is a lyric lovingly borrowed from "The Wanting" by J. Roddy Walston & The Business bc wow what a great song about the Soongs.





	Don’t Break the Branches Off the Family Tree

Soong lay dying. Not from whatever ailment he somehow never mentioned by name, but from traumatic injuries inflicted by Lore before Data had stopped his brother. After his last encounter with Lore, Data created a command protocol for automatic restart if he was deactivated while in the vicinity of his brother. The restart worked, but not before the damage was done and Lore had escaped.

“Everybody dies, Data,” said Soong. “Well, almost everybody.”

“Do you believe that we are in some way alike, sir?”

Soong nodded. “In many ways, I’d like to believe.”

“Then it is all right for you to die, because I will remain alive.”

Soong patted Data’s cheek.

“You know that I cannot grieve for you, sir,” said Data.

Reaching into a shirt pocket, Soong chuckled. “You will…,” he took Data by the hands, opening them and closing them again. “…in your own way.”

Data could feel the small chip nestled in his palm. “I thought—”

“Good-bye. Good-bye, Data.”

“Good bye… Father.”

 

Data joined the away team outside Soong’s dwelling within minutes.

“Is the body ready for transport?” Riker asked.

“Yes.”

“Lore?” said Worf.

“Most likely returning to his vessel to escape after the Enterprise departs.”

“I’m afraid there’s nothing for that now. We’ve got to get going,” said Riker.

“I’ve arranged to have Dr. Soong’s possessions transported to cargo bay two,” said Geordi.

Data nodded, running his thumb over the chip held in his hand.

“Enterprise,” said Riker. “Three to beam up.”

 

***

 

Data utilized the three days spent at Starbase 416 going through Soong’s possessions in cargo bay two with Geordi, except for the seven hours the first day spent in a debriefing with all the senior staff. Picard asked if Data had recovered the emotion chip from Lore, and Data said no, because he had not. Something kept him from volunteering information about the chip in his possession.

Data had put it in the drawer of his personal effects upon arriving at his quarters without so much as looking at it. His own reactions puzzled Data. In some ways the situation reminded him of his reasoning in keeping knowledge of his off-switch private, but then why would he also refuse to acknowledge the truth even in privacy?

“I think that’s the last of it,” said Geordi, stretching out his back after an hour spent on the floor sorting a pile of isolinear chips.

Data finished his notation on the catalog. “Geordi, would you accompany me to my quarters? I left an item there that should be included in my report.”

“Sure. Of course, Data.”

Geordi followed Data as the android guided an anti-grav sled stacked with containers of books, isolinear chips, and more personal items. In his quarters, Data left the sled hovering in the far corner of the main living area. Data went to his desk drawer and pulled out a container like a small jewelry box.

“Dr. Soong gave this to me as he passed. I do not know for sure how he came to possess it, although I have hypothesized that he suspected Lore’s subterfuge and installed in him a decoy.” Data handed the container to Geordi.

Geordi opened the box and shook his head. “Data….”

“Will you help me, Geordi?”

“You want to install it?” Geordi asked, incredulous.

“My father did intend for it to be used.”

Geordi shook his head again. It reminded him of ‘Grandpa’ all over again, but then this was different. The familial connection was undeniable.

“You lied to the captain.”

“Captain Picard asked if I recovered the chip from Lore.”

“And you got this from Soong. Right.” Geordi sighed. “I don’t know, Data. Installing the chip without permission from the captain—”

“No other crewmember requires the captain’s permission to experience emotions,” Data interrupted.

“This is different, and you know it!”

“The captain has made clear his belief that I am an autonomous, sentient being deserving of the same personal freedoms enjoyed by any other being. A belief I share.”

“That isn’t fair, Data. Of course, I believe that, too. But we’re talking about an unknown, untested hardware update aimed at fundamentally changing your personality.”

Data frowned. “You believe the chip will change my personality?”

“Its purpose is to give you emotions. How could that not affect your personality?”

“When the being Q bestowed me with the feeling of mirth as repayment for saving his life, I experienced that emotion for a moment. I did not understand why I felt that way, but I understood what I was experiencing. I do not retain that understanding. With the emotion chip, I will be able to understand a part of humanity which has always been unknowable to me. I believe my… perception will change, not my personality.”

Geordi walked to Data’s couch, nudging the sled out of the way so he could sit. The VISOR hurt worse than usual, so Geordi pulled it off and set it on the coffee table with the chip.

“There’s always a payoff,” Geordi said, mostly to himself. He thought a moment before nodding. “If we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do it right. Find Soong’s notes on the chip, prove to me this is safe.”

“Thank you, Geordi.”

“Don’t thank me, yet.”

Data grinned anyways.

 

***

 

Within twenty minutes, Data explained the basics of how the chip worked, how to install the chip, and most important to Geordi, how to uninstall the chip.

“I believe we are ready to proceed,” said Data.

Geordi put his VISOR back on. “And we agree, I have permission to initiate the uninstallation if I deem there’s a genuine threat of any sort?”

“I trust you.”

Geordi pulled up the extra chair to Data’s desk, where Data had already laid out the necessary tools.

“Initiating maintenance standby mode,” Data said. His eyes blinked shut and none of Data’s usual simulated resting movements engaged. He was utterly still.

With all his usual gentle precision, Geordi opened the panel on the side of Data’s neck, below his ear. With a few simple calibrations, Geordi prepared the main port for installation.

“I’ll say this for Dr. Soong. He was a master of aesthetic functionalism.” Geordi placed the chip on the port, which adjusted the chip to fit into the micro-connectors already designed in Data from his inception for this very installation. After one last once over, Geordi shut the panel and Data startled awake with a gasp.

“Data?” Data’s eyes scanned back and forth rapidly, until finally they snapped to Geordi’s face.

“How do you feel?”

“I am not sure I do.”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you feel right now?” Data asked, brow drawn together the way it did anytime Data was trying to determine a human behavior through juxtaposition.

“Concern for my friend.”

“I have experienced concern before, therefor I doubt whether that counts as an emotion.”

“Well, I guess fear, then. Fear is at the root of concern.”

“You are scared?”

“Data, did it work or didn’t it?”

Data shrugged. “I feel no different, so to speak.”

 _“Commander LaForge, you’re needed in transporter room three,”_ Chief O’Brien broke in over the communicator.

Geordi tapped his badge. “Chief, can it wait?”

_“Afraid not, Commander.”_

“Okay, I’m on my way.” Geordi set down the tool he still held in his hand. “Data?”

“I am fine, Geordi.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can to uninstall, okay? We’ll take a closer look at the chip and see what went wrong.”

Geordi left and Data looked to the sled. He needed to return it to the quartermaster. With his usual ease, Data lifted heavy boxes and moved them around his space. The boxes of physical books went into the bedroom where Data would install a bookshelf. The isolinear chips went into the storage ports of his personal console system. The last box was smaller than the others and contained personal items. Data placed all the items into his desk drawer, but paused at the pair of dinosaur toys. He picked both up with care and considered why he had packed them in the first place.

For Dr. Soong to have kept such items spoke to his playfulness, a trait which surely contributed to the creative power it took to bring the concept of a positronic brain into reality decades ahead of his contemporaries. Data doubted Commander Bruce Maddox, the Starfleet cyberneticist who wished to dissect Data ever felt moved to stop and play.

Data tapped his comm badge. “Data to Dr. Crusher.”

_“Crusher here. What is it, Data?”_

“Doctor, has Willie Potts returned to the Enterprise?”

_“Yes, Commander.”_

“I have a gift for him and his brother. May I bring it?”

_“Sure. I’m getting lunch, but the boys are in the quarantine anteroom.”_

“Thank you.”

 

Data surveyed the scene as he entered the quarantine anteroom. Willie Potts sat on the bed in the isolation chamber with his arms crossed and glaring. The object of his gaze was his brother, Jake, who sat on a chair in the corner, shoulders slumped and head hanging.

“Willie, Jake, may I speak with you a moment?”

Neither boy turned his attention to Data, but Data pushed on.

“I’ve come to apologize. Through powers beyond my control, I put your life at risk, Willie. And I put you, Jake, under even more stress. I deeply regret causing this pain.”

Still, neither boy responded. Data looked at the dinosaurs and considered each.

“I wished to give you these toys. They belonged to my father. He’d be glad to know they were being used for their intended purpose.”

“You have a father?” Willie asked, finally looking away from Jake to eye Data.

“Had a father. He passed.”

“I’m sorry,” said Jake.

Data held out the dinosaur toys to Jake. “While there are discernible differences between the toys, I cannot determine which may be more preferable to either of you, so I leave the decision to you.”

Jake took the toys and walked them to the containment field openings. “Which one do you want, Willie?”

The little boy hopped off his bed and went to the opening to examine each of the toys. “This one,” he said, taking it from his brother.

Jake roared, shaking the t-rex left in his hand.

“You can’t catch me in here!” Willie growled, shaking his t-rex.

Jake ran from one containment opening to the other, Willie in hot pursuit. The boys seemed to already know what game was in motion, although the linear arc was unclear to Data.

The doors of the anteroom opened and Dr. Crusher entered with Captain Picard.

“Well, Mr. Data, I see your gifts have been well received,” said Picard.

“Yes, sir. The boys appear to have reconciled their differences,” said Data.

“They’re brothers, Data,” said Crusher, with a fond smile. “Brothers forgive.”

A quiver, like the doctor’s words touched the deepest circuitry within him. It was such a visceral sensation that Data found himself looking to the doctor, expecting to see her doing something which might explain his experience. The doctor was doing nothing, and the feeling persisted, though changing.

Lore and Soong had both, in their ways, expressed the desire for Data to find it within him to forgive Lore for the pain he caused. Data turned his attention to the Potts brothers, attempting to determine what about them, their relationship allowed for reconciliation without addressing the wrongdoings of either side. He watched, but nothing he saw explained the phenomenon.

The quiver again, but this time as a pang, in that same deep place. Looking at the boys and not understanding felt like having his circuits overloaded by an electrical surge one by one.

“Excuse me,” said Data. Once outside the antechamber, Data ran. He ran down long corridors until reaching the turbolift nearest his quarters.

“Deck 2.” Data ran a preliminary self-diagnostic, one short enough to be completed in the space of a turbolift ride. All results returned within normal parameters as the doors opened.

“Data, there you are! Where did you go?” Geordi stood in front of the turbolift’s open doors.

Data looked at him and smiled.

“Is that…,” Geordi stepped closer. “Data, are you crying?”

Data smiled wider as undeniable tears streamed from the corners of his eyes. “It worked.”


End file.
